Many modern day electronic devices comprise integrated chips that use antennas to communicate wirelessly with other electronic devices. Integrated chips can use off-chip antennas or on-chip, integrated antennas. Off-chip antennas are external components connected to an integrated chip. Integrated antennas are built within the integrated chip. For example, integrated antennas (e.g., thin film micro-strip antennas) used in high frequency wireless communication devices (e.g., devices operating in the millimeter region of the electromagnetic spectrum) often use planar antennas disposed on a high frequency substrate or high frequency printed circuit board (HF PCBs).
Over the past decade there has been an increased demand for internet and wireless communications in handheld devices (e.g., tablet PCs and smart phones). Modern handheld devices tend to be smaller, thinner, and lighter since physical size often determines the competitiveness of a product. Therefore, in modern handheld devices a radio frequency (RF) system-in-package (SiP) module having an antenna implemented with off-chip components may be disadvantageous due to the large area of the off-chip components. Furthermore, off-chip antennas also suffer from poor performance because of impedance mismatch between an integrated chip and the antenna.